WORLD WATCH
The blame game continued at the 19th World Petroleum Congress in Madrid this past week, with consumers and producers at odds over the causes and consequences of sky-high oil prices. The IEA called for more investment; Opec said supply was plentiful. Facing demands to open up more to international companies, Opec countries pointed out that America's most promising exploration areas remain off limits. Opec President Chakib Khelil blamed the weak dollar for strong prices and told the US to put its house in order. Consumers want security of supply, while producers fret about the security of demand as the world seeks a carbon-neutral future. Amid the discord, all agree that the resource base is adequate and current energy prices are excessive and unjustified. Just don't expect any agreement on how to bring them down to more tolerable levels. However imperfect the market may be, there is still a shared view that it provides the only realistic place to determine the oil price. Peter Kemp, London |
